Keir Starmer's asylum nightmare intensifies as Labour councils consider legal action

Sir Keir Starmer's asylum accommodation nightmare has intensified after Labour council chiefs confirmed they were considering legal action against migrant hotels. Ministers are braced for a surge in legal challenges from local authorities after Epping Forest District Council was granted a temporary injunction to prevent asylum seekers from being housed at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

Home Office lawyers had warned that granting an injunction for the Bell Hotel could spark chaos in the asylum system. But Mr Justice Eyre backed a legal challenge by Epping Forest District Council, saying owner Somani Hotels had not followed planning law. And Reform UK's Nigel Farage has called for more protests outside hotels.

Labour-run Tamworth Council said it would look to challenge the use of the Holiday Inn Express in the town, which was a focus of violent disorder during the Southport riots last summer.

Councillor Carol Dean, leader of Tamworth Borough Council, said the council did explore similar legal avenues when the Home Office first started using the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth to house asylum seekers, but did not end up pursuing them.

She said: "I want to be transparent with our community - when the Home Office first began using the hotel in 2022, we did explore similar legal avenues. However, we did not pursue this route at the time because temporary injunctions, while initially granted in other cases nationally, were not ultimately upheld by the courts.

"The situation at Epping Forest represents a potentially important legal precedent, and we are carefully assessing what this might mean for our circumstances here in Tamworth."

Councillor Paula Basnett, the leader of Labour-run Wirral council, said: "Like many other local authorities, we have concerns about the Home Office's practice of placing asylum seekers in hotels without consultation or regard to local planning requirements.

"We are actively considering all options available to us to ensure that any use of hotels or other premises in Wirral is lawful and does not ride roughshod over planning regulations or the wishes of our communities.

"If necessary, we will not hesitate to challenge such decisions in order to protect both residents and those seeking refuge."

On Wednesday, some Conservative and Reform UK-led authorities said they were looking at their options to take similar action.

Conservative-run Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire has said it was taking legal advice "as a matter of urgency", while Tory-run East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire said officers are investigating and "will take appropriate action".

Reform UK-led councils - West Northamptonshire Council and Staffordshire County Council - also said the authorities would look at the options available after the High Court ruling.

Ian Cooper, leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: "The control and protection of our country's borders is a national issue, but the impact of central government policy is felt in communities across Staffordshire."

The Home Office had warned the judge that an injunction could "interfere" with the department's legal obligations, and lawyers representing the hotel's owner argued it would set a "precedent".

Craig Leyland, the leader of East Lindsey District Council in Lincolnshire, said: "We have always been clear to the Government that we stand strongly against the use of hotels in our district by the Home Office for those seeking asylum. We now only have one hotel in such use."

The Conservative councillor added: "I have followed the case by Conservative-run Epping Forest District Council and yesterday's judgment with great interest.

"I have asked officers to investigate and understand this case and will take appropriate action once we understand if there are any similarities that we can act on."

Reacting to the ruling on Wednesday, security minister Dan Jarvis told Times Radio: "We're looking at a range of different contingency options following from a legal ruling that took place yesterday, and we'll look closely at what we're able to do."

Asked whether other migrant hotels have the proper planning permission, Mr Jarvis said: "Well, we'll see over the next few days and weeks.

"Other local authorities will be considering whether they wish to act in the same way that Epping district council have.

"I think the important point to make is that nobody really thinks that hotels are a sustainable location to accommodate asylum seekers.

"That's precisely why the Government has made a commitment that, by the end of this Parliament, we would have phased out the use of them."